£2million to pass Go

Ever since the first dice were shaken over a Monopoly board it has been a welcome relief on every circuit... pass 'Go' and the bank hands over £200.

Now, however, hyper inflation has hit the game as its makers celebrate the 70th anniversary.

A special 'Here And Now' limited edition gives each player £2million for passing 'Go' while other values on the board have been similarly uprated.

Bank notes now start at £10,000 and go up to £5million, compared with the old £1 to £500 denominations, while everything else has changed from the sort of properties being bought and sold - houses and hotels have been changed to apartments and tower blocks - to the tokens with which players move around the board.

Railway stations have been replaced with airports, and utilities such as the Electric Company with the BT Telecom tower. The most expensive property on the board, which used to be Mayfair, is now The City.

Chance and Community Chest cards, which must be drawn if a player lands on them, have also been revamped. The £10 once won for 'coming second in a beauty contest' has been transformed into a treat such as winning £100,000 after 'your colleagues hire your villa in Cannes for a week'.

Penalties still include going to jail, while another card orders the player back three spaces because of rush-hour traffic. Surprisingly, given Ken Livingstone's eagerness to make life hard for the motorists, parking remains free.

The special edition, priced at £19.99, goes on sale next Monday and will be available for a year.